It inhabits western Africa, specifically Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, but has been extirpated in three countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, and Togo.

The species name troglodytes is Greek for 'cave-dweller', and was coined by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in his Handbuch der Naturgeschichte (Handbook of Natural History) published in 1779.

Adult, adolescent, and juvenile females are slightly more likely to hunt with tools than males of the same age group.

[8] Chimpanzees near Kédougou, Senegal have been observed to create spears by breaking straight limbs off trees, stripping them of their bark and side branches, and sharpening one end with their teeth.

[10] They make wooden spears to hunt other primates, use caves as homes, share plant foods with each other, and travel and forage during the night.

[14] Paternity tests indicate males frequently mate with females from several different communities, siring infants from them.

This further is in line with the active and possibly co-dominant role female western chimpanzees play in their communities.